This invention relates generally to the art of books and more specifically, to books having mechanisms mounted thereon for stiffening them when they are placed in open configurations. In a sense, this invention relates to the art of lap desks.
A difficulty many people have when using books, specifically loose-leaf notebooks, is that front and back flap covers of the books usually rotate freely about hinge seams so that such books are cumbersome when held open in a lap. Similarly, it often occurs that loose-leaf notebooks, when open, extend laterally beyond small work surfaces of desks used in many schools today so that front and rear flaps thereof rotate downwardly, offering little or no support for loose-leaf papers in the notebooks. When one works with a loose-leaf notebook on his lap or at a small desk, rear and front flap covers provide little or no support but rather rotate easily about hinge seams beyond a common plane in which they are approximately parallel one with another. It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a book stiffener used in conjunction with a book, especially a loose-leaf notebook, for preventing front and rear flap covers from rotating substantially beyond a common plane in which they are approximately parallel with one another.
At the same time, it is an object of this invention to provide such a book stiffener which, when a book on which it is mounted, such as a notebook, is closed, will not unduly protrude, or make the book awkward to handle.
Similarly, it is an object of this invention to provide a book stiffener providing the above benefits which is inexpensive to construct and easy to mount on a book but at the same time, is quite uncomplicated to use and not unsightly in appearance.